Kummer: People may expect things that “simply aren’t there,” due to Dead Island’s trailer

Vincent Kummer, Dead Island’s brand manager at Deep Silver, has told the US PS Blog that the debut trailer for the game was “mostly a blessing,” for the team.

According to Kummer, due to the public’s reaction to the emotionally-charged trailer, people may be expecting more from the game than it contains.

“The trailer we released was mostly a blessing, because when you put something out there you don’t expect to generate that much interest in the game, especially not for free,” he said. “However, we are cautious that people might be expecting things from the game, based on that trailer, that simply aren’t there. We’re aiming to make it very clear, early on, what the game is actually about.”

Unlike other zombie titles which take place in dearly, gray sort of world, this one is in bright sunlight on a lovely island. In order to for the player to feel fearful of such surroundings, the team is relying on the use of desperation instead of aesthetically creepy surroundings.

“Our approach to fear is to have the player constantly worried for their life and that desperation that comes from having to survive using whatever you manage to pick up,” said Kummer.

“We’re saying that our environment is a paradise to die for and we’re building a full tropical island. It all starts at the beach hotel but you’re going to see jungle, city and some surprise locations that you won’t be expecting. There are also outdoor and indoor locations that are totally different and we manipulate the weather in certain ways to add a new level of fear.

“Zombies are obviously a part of our story and there is of course going to be background to that – it’s not like they’re just going to fall from the heavens. There are so many zombies out there in different media and different ways to use zombies as a metaphor for some failing of human beings. I’ve always liked to think of them as humans reverted to their basic primal instincts, with no good left in there at all.”